Natalia gets her smile back

Natalia attends our day care centre in Colombia for help with homework, nutritious food, counselling, school resources, devotions, fun, games and medical care. As the fourth child in a poor family struggling to make ends meet, the care centre is a safe haven for Natalia and a place where she can feel valued and accepted.

One day Natalia was playing ball games with her cousin and her friend by the river. They were having a great time enjoying their time off school when both Natalia and her cousin jumped to catch the ball causing her cousin’s head to crash into Natalia’s mouth. This collision caused one of Natalia’s front teeth to break, leaving her with a gap.

After the shock of losing her tooth, Natalia began to feel anxious that her mother would think that she was being reckless and tell her off. The anxiety increased when she went back to school as her classmates teased her, making her feel sad and embarrassed.

We love Natalia very much and knew that the loss of her tooth was making her unhappy, so we had to do something to give this lovely girl her smile back. We told her this and she brimmed with excitement knowing that her tooth would be fixed.

We took Natalia and her mother to a dentist in a Puerto Colombia where the dentist took a mould of the gap where her tooth should be. They then travelled home and waited expectantly for the new tooth to be ready. A short time after the mould was taken, a team of dentists came to visit the day care centre and examine all of the children, they brought with them the replacement tooth to fit for Natalia. The day Natalia had been waiting for had come, the tooth was fitted and we saw Natalia smile again.

“My parents are separated. My dad is the only one that works, and he always told me that he had no money for my new tooth. This would not have been possible without the help of Stand by Me. That was a really happy day for me. I felt like new and very blissful!”

Helping children like Natalia with dental treatment is essential in maintaining their health and happiness. Putting a smile back on Natalia’s face is the biggest reward of all.